Fat bikes can open up new possibilities for fun during the long winter When he was a kid in Ottawa, Andrew Staneland would wrap plumbing chain around tires and rims and deliver papers on bike throughout the winter. Now, 50 years on, among his 13-odd bikes, is a “fat bike,” with oversized, underinflated, metal-studded tires, designed to give traction and stability on ice and snow. Although the Kawartha Cycling Club member sees 30 or 40 other fat bikes when he rides in Ottawa, Staneland says fat bikes aren’t yet a thing here. I decide to find out for myself what it’s like to cycle in winter — to get the skinny on fat bikes. Allen Hussey of Pedego has offered me the loan of a fat bike and I arrange to meet him at The Bike Garage in Lindsay. From there I hope to ride to Omemee and back, taking the Rotary Trail along the Scugog River, then the Kawartha TransCanada Trail. The temperature is -15 C with the wind chill. Forewarned by Staneland, I’ve dressed in layers. Keeping warm — but not overheating — is the goal. Hussey introduces me to the bike, a customized Pedego Magnum Ranger with extra-wide, 11-cm tires. To help me out, it’s electric. (In the promotional literature it’s described as “the monster bike of electric bikes.”) He’s also recruited Pedego bike mechanic Eric Cardinal to accompany me. Cardinal has a few tips, such as to accelerate and break smoothly and lightly. For clothing, he recommends a thin balaclava under the bike helmet. Conditions are perfect: overnight there was snowfall, but just a few centimetres. Just as well: deep snow is for snowshoes, not bikes of any description. We take the Rotary Trail, following the river’s path, then it’s up Dobson Street and onto the Kawartha Trans Canada Trail. I begin without any electric bike pedal assist and it’s effortful for sure. Soon I add the pedal-assist and combine third gear and assist level 3, with brisk pedalling at 19-20 kph.
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JAMIE MORRIS Writer-at-large
Eric Cardinal, left, with Advocate writer-at-large Jamie Morris on the Rotary Trail. Photo: Glenda Morris.
Satisfied I’m comfortable with the bike, Cardinal heads back and I continue to Omemee. Every so often deeper snow grabs the tire, or the tire drifts a bit but there’s never a feeling of loss of control or danger. There’s even a feeling of floating as I carve out sweeping curves in the calf-deep, untracked snow. A succession of roads intersects the trail — Post, Settlers, Lilac, and Heights. Before and after each I slow for sets of bollards. The only sounds are from the crunch of the tires gripping the surface. Around me are open fields, corridors of trees, a few barns. Along the edge of the trail critters have left tracks in the fresh powdery snow. On the return leg, I meet just four walkers and two dogs, then, just before Dobson St., a middle-aged couple on regular, non-electric fat bikes. I ask what they like about winter fat-biking and for them, it’s the workout. My verdict on fat bike riding in winter? Staneland was right: doable and exhilarating.
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